The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-05-07

About tue middle OF April the whole
command broke camp and started On the
march. Tho regiment was brigadod win
Ave or six others ana had been assigne 10
General a. J. smith, division OF the Ihir-
tecn,h Army Corps
A brigade was made up Of from three 10
six or scycnr gmcn'S, advisor OF from
two TO four or iivl brigadcs, and an army
corps Of lr IN two TO i've divisions.
Every reCim NJ had two or three ambu-
lance, u carry th' sick or disabled, sever
al wagons 10 haul the tents and other
camp coup 60. As tho war progressed,
however, ana the men gained experience
in tho le. /, tho amount Of baggage was re-
ducei To IA u,mum and every man found
IL toh.s advantage to get along with the
least poss bic IN the way VI clothing while
In the FIELD.
To each brigade was attached n battery,
These when complete had six cannons ana
and SIX cdkSons-am wagons - 10
each If which were ATTACHED six horses.
twill be thus seen that n division with It's
men marching IN not very close ranks, its
ambulanccs wagons, batteries, etc, neces'
sarily occupied "A good deal OF spac; when
on thl road. Blt IN addition there was a.
ways train OF wagons besides contain
ing provisions ammunition and necessary
extra supplies.
To ret this long line OF men, wagons,
batteries, etc, in proper order and In mo-
ton was no little task and often consumed
no little time, and necessitatcd many false
starts an | sudden halts To all thls' how
ever, tho men soon became accustomed,
and In lll,c whio maic good use OF
every halt by taking all tho rest thus az
forlcd.
Most Of the section ~ country traverscd
was low, and the roads when not OVERFLOW
were e. thcr quito muddy or else very rough.
In many places roads hal u be made AMI
brides built; frequently however, tho
road ran along tho top OF the levee as Do
fore stated.
The first days march took tho commani
80 Richmond, a small town nearly west oi
Vicksburg, and the next 10 Holmes plan
tgtion, large tract Of land BELONGING
General Holmes OK tho Confederate NJ.
Hero stop Of several days was made, and
from letter written from here Sunday,
April ~ by tho writer, the following ox.
tract IL made: ''Ihcrc are n great many
fine plantations through here; indeed
through this part OF the country there Is
nothing else but fine ones. Most OF these
have from thirty 10 hity negro houses
(quartcrs) on them.
"Thc planter usually lives in a one-story
house with porches all around II. Inc
plantations though are mostly deserted,
only few negroes remaining. IL has Dcch
only three or four weeks since the hrst
Federal troops came in D,rc. One month
ago the Secr,h thought they were entirely
safe here, but they were mistaken.
"Corn (April l9) ssixinchcs high ana mas
been plowed once, the forest Is as green as
il will be this year; roses and nearly oil
flow RS are IN full bloom.
"We are now cncampcd on plantation
owned by n man named iolmes-now
General in the .Scccsh army. This place con.
tains nine hundred acres and is the small
est of four belonging TO Holmes. He also
owns four steamboats, on the Mississippi
river. On this plantation is fine mill.
Down here they have cotton-gins, grist ana
saw-mllls ell under one roof"
The night Of April 10, 1863, the six gun.
boats, Benton, Louisville, Lafayette, Mound
CIV and Carondoct, and the three trans
ports, Forest Queen, Silver Wave and
Henry Clay, ran the batteries ut Vicksburg
and Warrenton, n few miles below. All
passed safely except the Henry Clay, which
was destroyed.
The transports were loaded with army
stores; their boilers were protected with
cotton bales and bales Of hay, and each
had in tow ono or more barges loaded with
conl.
Every vessel was struck number OF
times, but none save the Henry Clay re-
ceivcd vital injury.
Regarding this occurrence the Following
extract Is taken from letter OF April 10,
1868, written from Holmes plantation,
about twenty miles west Of VicksDurg:
1--WE are TO march again In few days; are
going To Carthage, which Is on the river
below Viclssburg Most Of the heavy
things such as large tents commissary
stores, etc, were taken aboard transports
TO be conveyed down tho river. These, OF
course, hal TO run the blockade Mt Vicks-
burg, and this they did last Thursday
night (Aprn lG) There were three (siI)
gun.boats and four (ihree) transports. We
hoard tho firing very distinctly. One
. TRANSPORT was burned"
The regiment in common with the
division, received marching orders the
evening OF April ~, and about eight
/ o'clock at night got under way. Tho